Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180030A
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00:32 Happy Sabbath, glad you could join us.
00:34 I tell you, this is going to be an exciting, exciting lesson. 00:37 When we study the Book of Acts, I just get excited 00:39 because there are things in there that we can really 00:41 learn as a church, so we're going to be on 00:43 Lesson #4, and again, we're glad you joined with us. 00:46 This is 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:48 I know many of you, I've heard when I travel 00:51 people really enjoy the panel, so bless your hearts, 00:54 and we thank each one of you today for being here with us. 00:57 We'll introduce you later. 00:58 I'm Kenny Shelton and I'm glad today that we're going to be 01:01 on #4 of the lesson as it is very interesting. 01:04 We're talking about the first church leaders, 01:06 and to me, it was very interesting because when we 01:08 looked at this, this is where it kind of began. 01:11 This is where it was set up, and any time you begin 01:14 something and begin to set it up, the Holy Spirit 01:16 is working, the enemy is going to be working, 01:18 and there is going to be issues. 01:20 So today, I think we're all going to be looking 01:22 at different issues and we're going to attack those issues, 01:24 and we're going to see how God worked it out through the 01:26 power of the Holy Spirit. 01:28 Again, when you study the Book of Acts, it's electrifying. 01:31 If you don't mind, I can use that word, "electrifying." 01:33 There's things that we study that's good for the church 01:36 today. Amen! We need it for today. 01:39 The fact that we study the Book of Acts, the first church 01:41 that was set up is supposed to be that example 01:43 for us throughout until Jesus, comes, so we can learn from 01:46 these things and it's full of information and so on. 01:49 It's a story of, you know, God choosing individuals 01:51 to set this church up and to get it going and moving 01:54 forward, but naturally you're going to be dealing with 01:57 issues - we're going to be dealing with problems, 02:00 and I think - How do we deal with these issues? 02:03 How do we deal with these problems that would arise? 02:06 Well I hope by now, most of you have your study guides 02:09 and I realize that a lot of people... we have new viewers, 02:11 I'm convinced that there are new viewers all the time 02:13 so we have to repeat some of these things, right? 02:16 People need these lesson study guides and I'll tell you how 02:19 to get them... Simply download these. 02:20 Just go and download these lessons on... 02:23 ABSG.Adventist.org and if you do that, 02:27 you will get these lessons, the "Adult Bible Study Guides," 02:32 and it's always good - some of you are getting a little bit 02:34 lazy because you're not getting these guides and you need to, 02:36 bless your hearts, you need to get these guides 02:38 and follow along - you'll find that you 02:39 will learn a whole lot more if it's set before you 02:42 and you study, you're underlining and you're 02:44 jotting down passages of Scripture that each one 02:46 might say, just quickly say, "We don't have time to 02:48 go over it," but look this up for your own study. 02:51 If you happen to be gone, I always say, 02:53 set your DVR and then record it. 02:55 You'll be able to come back and look at the main station 02:58 here and you can look at YouTube, you know, 03:00 anything that you have, device of your choice, 03:02 just make sure you're watching it and we're glad that you are, 03:05 and we're glad you've joined us. 03:07 And we should introduce our panel for today... 03:09 On my left, Sister Shelley Quinn, always good to have you. 03:14 It's always good, I kinda thought working together, 03:16 is that what we do here? Amen! Amen! 03:19 You know, one thing I have to say... The people love this. 03:22 We know that our audience loves this program, 03:24 but it's my favorite program because I get to sit with my 03:28 friends and hear and get the benefit of your study 03:31 as well as mine. 03:32 Yes, isn't that wonderful to be able to work together? 03:34 And who do you have on your left? 03:36 I have Pastor CA Murray, my dear brother. 03:39 Good to be here, it's very, very good to be here. 03:41 I find I study harder for this 10 minutes than I did when I 03:44 was teaching my class when I was pastoring at pastor's class. 03:48 I put more time in on this than I did in the pastor's class. 03:51 This, you tend to put a lot in and there's so much 03:54 to learn from each other, and to my left is 03:56 Ms. Jill Morikone. 03:58 It's a privilege to be here and open up God's word 04:01 and study together and I learn and grow from each one of you, 04:04 and what you share of the word of God and to my left is 04:07 my dear friend and mentor and mom, Mollie Steenson. 04:10 And I've got to say that doing these Sabbath School Panels 04:14 has been for me... I have grown - the depth of my 04:19 understanding of God's word has grown and you're right, 04:23 that just to do 10 minutes, we put hours of study 04:27 in a piece. 04:29 I've heard it said several times, "Well, that must be 04:31 and easy thing, you know, just for 10 minutes, 04:33 and then pass it on to somebody else." 04:35 I said, "Well you're supposed to at least pay attention 04:37 to what the other folks are doing too, 04:38 so there's still more to it than that." 04:40 We learn - it's good, but there is a lot of study, 04:42 and may times, we're talking about hours of studying 04:45 and going through - so it's always 04:47 a blessing isn't it? Yes it is! 04:48 Sister Mollie, since you were speaking last, 04:50 would you have prayer for us please? 04:51 I would be delighted. 04:52 Holy Father, We come before You in the 04:54 name of Jesus and Lord, we are so grateful that You've 04:57 given us this blessing, this opportunity 05:00 to break the bread of life with Your people. 05:03 And Father, we just all bring our hearts before You 05:06 and ask, Lord, that You would purify and perfect our hearts 05:08 that we would stand before Your people 05:10 with clean hands and a pure heart, 05:12 and Father we yield to You that the words that are spoken 05:15 here today will be anointed of You, 05:17 and they will go into every listener and every viewer's 05:20 ear, they will take root in the heart and grow 05:23 and prosper and bring us all into closer 05:25 relationship with You. 05:27 In Christ's name... Amen Amen! Amen, praise the Lord! 05:30 We're prayed up and ready to study 05:31 the lesson, let's do our Sabbath, alright? 05:32 Get into the Sabbath, we're just going to get 05:34 a quick overview of it, and time is ticking down 05:36 really quickly - we'll just cover what we can. 05:38 And we go right to our memory text... 05:40 Now, in the memory text, I know it's the 05:42 New Revised Standard Version, and I have a habit of reading 05:45 out of the King James Version, some people like it, 05:47 and some don't, but I appreciate it. 05:50 And it says just about the same thing. 05:52 We can read it together if we like here panel, are we ready? 05:55 "The word of God continued to spread; the number of disciples 06:00 increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests 06:05 became obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7 06:10 I thought, "Here's a real problem and I like it." 06:13 Here's the key... noticed what happened... 06:16 It says, "And the word of God did what? 06:18 The word of God increased and any time the word of God 06:21 increases, then also the prospect, the potential of 06:24 members and the church growing, 06:26 as the what? ...the word increases 06:29 and goes out first. 06:31 Growth is very, very important 06:32 is what I looked at in this lesson. Amen! 06:34 If it's not growing, then it's dying. 06:35 So the church needs to be active. 06:37 It needs to be growing, but along with the new church 06:39 and growth, a lot of times it grows faster than 06:42 we're able to put the things together 06:43 to take care of the church. 06:45 I don't know if you ever had that experience or not, 06:47 but you have to be able to have things in place 06:49 to take care of the new members, the different thoughts, 06:52 and the different minds that come into the church. 06:55 And so there's growing pains, in our lesson 06:57 there are some growing pains that I like to think about, 06:59 and I'll name a couple of those. 07:01 We have some converts, the new converts that are 07:03 coming in from Pentecost that were Hellenites, 07:06 you remember those? Who were they? 07:08 They were Jews, weren't they. 07:10 Jews from the Grecian or the Greeks and then also 07:13 from the Roman world. 07:15 Well what does that do? 07:16 All of a sudden, we've got a language problem. 07:19 It's hard to understand, we're speaking a different 07:21 language - the main language was what? Aramaic, wasn't it... 07:25 so to speak there in Judea. 07:26 So they had problem language and plus, they had 07:29 cultural differences; they had religious difference; 07:33 they even thought differently, and sometimes when 07:35 you're in a different country, you think 07:37 just a little bit differently. 07:38 So they had all these things kind of working against them 07:40 while they were trying to work together. 07:43 And so, a lot of these new converts came in... 07:46 think about it... they weren't really attached to the 07:51 temple services and ceremonies. 07:53 They really weren't all convinced about the 07:55 Mosaic law and so on, so there was other issues 07:58 that were springing up here. 08:00 Nevertheless, God used many of them, didn't He? 08:02 Many of them to witness to the world. 08:05 Sunday's lesson - let's go quickly... 08:08 I remember studying this as a young person 08:10 about the seven deacons. 08:11 I thought, "Boy, this is wonderful," but you know, 08:13 as I studied this lesson, I found out, very interesting, 08:16 that the deacons back then, they would just talk about 08:19 the seven - New Testament just referred to them as "the seven." 08:22 But we call them "the seven," they did a whole lot more 08:26 than the deacons do today. 08:27 So I'm not sure if we don't have the men 08:29 to do it anymore or not, if something is wrong, 08:33 but they had a lot of responsibility 08:36 as deacons back then. 08:38 And so, if we look at it from the church standpoint, 08:41 again, I think maybe we ought to look at it. 08:42 There was a complaint, what was the complaint? 08:44 Do you remember that complaint in Acts 6:1, 08:46 it just simply says, "There was neglect going on." 08:49 It said, "In those days when the number of disciples had 08:51 multiplied... I like this, Acts 6:1, there arose 08:55 a murmuring among the Grecians," They were against the Hebrews 08:59 because their widows were neglected in daily ministration, 09:02 more in distribution or bringing relief. 09:07 So because the language barrier, cultures, so on and so forth, 09:11 some were getting taken care of 09:13 and others weren't getting taken care of. 09:14 It's a legitimate, I think, complaint - let's say it nicely. 09:17 It's legitimate to have a complaint 09:19 if it's something against the gospel 09:20 that we need to have taken care of. 09:22 Some people complain because they just LOVE to complain... 09:26 But if we look at it realistically, that's one of the 09:29 aspects of selfishness - is really complaining. Yes 09:32 That's really probably the highest phase of that is 09:36 selfishness when you look at it. 09:38 But when there's legitimate source, 09:39 naturally, we need to bring that out. 09:41 I call it "an alleged" neglect, but it proved to be truth, 09:46 and it wasn't because the church was growing too fast, 09:48 there wasn't enough people to take care of all those 09:50 who needed to be taken care of, changes need to be made. 09:54 And as soon as that complaint was made, what happened? 09:56 Church, you know it, as soon as somebody complains 09:58 in the church - and again, this is legitimate, 10:00 something needed to be done, the enemy comes in. 10:02 That's the wedge for the enemy to come in and try to 10:05 destroy the church, divide, separate 10:07 and to conquer through complaints. 10:09 SUSPICION, arousing suspicion... 10:12 "Well, I think maybe they left us out because 10:14 I'm different or they left us out because of..." 10:18 So suspicion came in, what should a church do? 10:21 We have it today, something comes in, there's conflict 10:26 in the church, what should the church do? 10:28 Should we just ignore it or should we really 10:30 look at that situation quickly and try to handle it 10:33 before it festers up. 10:34 We need to look at it quickly and try to handle it. 10:38 Act fast, settle the difference or there will be division. 10:41 I've been around long enough, that's the way it works 10:43 every time, isn't that right pastor? You know that. 10:45 Each of you knows that it's work with it. 10:47 Here's a solution... We talked about there's issues 10:49 and so some weren't getting taken care of... 10:51 remember there was a poor fund, 10:53 and many people were giving to the fund, 10:56 when there was an issue involved then we look at what? 10:59 Many, many people were called in to be a voice in this 11:03 because there were many that were giving - it makes sense. 11:07 And if we look at it like this, that arose the 11:10 representative form of the church government 11:13 came out of this situation, that we were representatives. 11:16 And we have people because a lot of people are involved. 11:18 Here's a solution... Acts 6:2, I'm moving quickly, 11:22 I just have 3 minutes or so left and so it says... 11:24 "Then the twelve called the multitude of disciples... 11:27 So I see two different groups, don't you? 11:29 The twelve is one group, right? 11:31 And then they called the multitude in, notice, 11:34 of disciples and they said to them, "It is not reason that 11:37 we should leave the word of God and serve tables." 11:40 I kinda like this in here because I feel like, sometimes 11:43 I've done some things that I need to put on the side over 11:45 here and get to the word of God and stay in the word of God 11:48 like we should do here. 11:49 Moffatt translation - this is one that says here: 11:51 "We don't need to be attending to passing out the meals." 11:55 It's kind of interesting and Godspeed says this... 11:58 "We don't have time to be keeping account." 12:00 I thought that was interesting. 12:02 The Bible of Basic English says this... 12:04 "To make distributions of food." 12:06 Already the Jewish Church had three men set up and they 12:10 were taking care of the needy and those who had special needs. 12:13 The church was too big, three couldn't handle it anymore, 12:16 and so what happened... The apostles said - You know 12:19 what we need to do, everybody is involved... 12:20 Let's just call a big meeting here and let's settle this issue 12:23 because if we don't, there's going 12:24 to be more issues that will come. 12:25 So they said... What we're going to do is 12:27 occupy ourselves in doctrinal issues - isn't that right? 12:31 In other words, the pastors and teachers and all, 12:33 we need to occupy ourselves on those things that God 12:35 has asked us to do and not get sidetracked on other 12:38 things, even though they are good within themselves. 12:40 There's a lot of people to help do that. 12:42 The deacons or the seven, oh, they did the communal meal, 12:47 they did the Lord's supper, the prayer time... 12:50 I like it here because the early church I mentioned did more. 12:53 I mean, they did a lot more here, but these deacons had 12:57 to be what? Quickly qualified. 12:58 They had to be men of God. 13:00 Their morals had to be right, their spiritual condition, 13:04 they had to be filled with the Holy Spirit - it talks 13:06 about here; the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of God here. 13:09 And if they were chosen, hands were laid on them. 13:12 Isn't that beautiful? Hands laid on, prayed for, 13:15 they were set aside to do the work needed to be done. 13:18 So I thought it was very, very interesting here, 13:20 so the deacons then did what? They did a whole lot more, 13:24 in fact, they were recognized as men who actually were 13:28 leading out in the church to begin with... that's kind of 13:31 interesting, that's a pretty heavy responsibility, 13:33 but it's a good responsibility. 13:35 And I think maybe, this is my own little personal view 13:37 if you don't mind what I say, you know, I think maybe 13:39 they need a little more responsibility today, you know, 13:42 meted out to them because I think with responsibility 13:45 when the Lord is calling to do it, it helps us to grow. 13:48 So, you know, what is the thought on here, 13:50 we're talking about here, I thought it was very 13:52 interesting, I jotted down the "Acts of the Apostles." 13:53 I'll just read that to you quickly here, 13:55 in the last few seconds, 88. 13:56 Here's our issue, here's what we did it at first, 13:58 just to get it all set up here... 14:00 Satan had succeeded in arousing suspicion; 14:03 prompt measures must now be taken to remove all 14:07 occasion for dissatisfaction, lest the enemy would 14:11 triumph in the effort to bring about a division 14:14 among the believers. 14:16 So really, in the church, if there's issues that come, 14:19 you need to call the right group together, 14:21 need to talk about it, and pray about it, 14:22 get it worked out as fast as you can in the love of Jesus, 14:25 because if you don't, it will only fester up, get worse, 14:28 and praise God, this church knew exactly what to do. 14:31 And so this leads right into Monday's lesson, right? 14:36 We'll be talking about something very special, 14:38 "Stephen's Ministry" Yes 14:39 So what they did, the church, they bring in men 14:43 who are full of the Holy Spirit, full of power, 14:47 and they choose seven and Stephen was among the 14:51 seven of the first deacons. 14:53 So what we see here is that the gospel is continuing to 14:58 spread, believers are being added every day to the church, 15:04 and you will recall that they were selling everything, 15:07 they were sharing everything in common. 15:09 And as you said, when you have rapid growth, 15:13 it's going to bring opposition. 15:16 It's just interesting that when you look at the history 15:19 of the church, everything that could prevent the church 15:23 from being established or overthrow it once 15:27 it was established, everything was brought to bear, 15:30 but God turned the attacks against the people. 15:35 He turned their weapons against themselves. 15:38 So we will begin with Acts 6:8, it says... "Stephen full of 15:44 faith and power did great wonders and signs 15:49 among the people." 15:50 So he's a man of noble character, he's full of the 15:53 Holy Spirit, he's full of God's grace. 15:56 He is full of the power of the Holy Spirit and, as you said, 16:00 he was doing more than just distributing the food to the 16:04 widows - he was doing GREAT miracles, GREAT signs 16:09 and wonders and Stephen was the first of the New Testament 16:14 disciples other than Jesus and the Apostles. 16:17 He was the first to do these miracles. 16:20 So verse 9, Acts 6:9... "Then there arose some from 16:24 what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, (Cyrenians, 16:28 Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, 16:32 disputing with Stephen... And they were not 16:36 able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 16:42 So these are the Hellenistic Jews of the dispersion. 16:45 We've got people who have been living in the area 16:50 of where they spoke Greek... this is why they even 16:55 created the Septuagint or translated it into Greek. 17:00 And what happened is... these people had come in 17:04 and, as you said, they had not been around the temples 17:06 for a while... I mean they came in for major feasts and things, 17:10 but they had just a little bit of a different attitude. 17:14 So Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew and he was preaching 17:18 at the synagogues of the Hellenists probably here at 17:22 6:9 is referring to two of them; one of the southern immigrants 17:28 the Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, 17:30 and one of the northern immigrants for Cilicia and Asia. 17:34 So he got first class debater, 17:36 He is arguing with the Spirit's power and they were being 17:42 out-argued, if you could say... they just philosophically 17:48 they could not argue against the truth of God's word. 17:53 But here's something that is interesting to me... 17:56 As you read through, you see that many of the Judean Jews, 18:00 those who have always lived in their homeland, 18:02 those who had always been near the temple... 18:06 they were much slower to recognize that the old 18:11 covenant had passed, that Jesus has fulfilled 18:14 all of the temple services, all of the signs, all of that. 18:19 They just didn't recognize it as quickly. 18:22 The Hellenistic Jews, perhaps because they were distanced 18:25 did recognize it a little sooner. 18:29 So here is Stephen preaching Christ of the New Covenant 18:34 who fulfilled the Mosaic Law, he is preaching that 18:40 the sacrificial system had come to an end and he meets 18:44 opposition and I mean, the Jews feel like he is 18:48 disparaging the importance of the temple. 18:50 But what happened is that when they couldn't, you know, 18:58 what can I say... when they couldn't argue against 19:03 the truth, what did they do? 19:05 They upped the ante, didn't they? 19:07 And now they are accusing him unjustly, 19:12 they're slandering him. 19:13 Verse 11, "Then they secretly induced men to say, 19:17 "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against 19:21 Moses and God." 19:22 They introduced false witnesses. 19:24 This was a common practice among the Jews. 19:27 They would actually bribe people to come forward and 19:32 give false testimony, so they got somebody 19:35 that's coming forward saying that they are accusing him 19:40 of attacking the temple, attacking Moses... 19:43 This is heresy and sedition, but then they really 19:46 get down to it where they're attacking him and falsely 19:49 accusing him of blaspheming not only Moses, but God. 19:53 So verse 12 says... and by the way, what was the punishment 19:58 for blasphemy? Death by stoning! Right. 20:03 So, verse 12 says... "They stirred up the people, 20:06 the elders and the scribes; and they came upon him, 20:10 the seized him, and they brought him to the council. 20:12 Do you realize they are inciting the very people among 20:18 whom Stephen had performed all these signs and wonders. 20:21 Who does that remind you of? 20:24 You know with Jesus, when He performed the signs and 20:27 wonders, they didn't accept it as being from God. 20:29 So you've got the elders who are the Sadducees for the 20:33 most part and the Scribes, teachers of the law 20:36 who are the Pharisees, they needed little 20:39 encouragement - they really already were incensed 20:43 against the apostles and they showed great animosity 20:46 towards the Christians, so the persecution of Stephen 20:49 begins and they drag him before the trial. 20:51 This is the third trial of Christians because 20:55 when Stephen went before the Sanhedrin, Peter and John 20:59 had already been there. 21:00 Acts 6:13..."They also set up false witnesses who 21:03 who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous 21:08 words against this holy place and the law; 21:10 "for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth 21:14 will destroy this place and change the customs which 21:18 Moses delivered to us." 21:20 So, undoubtedly, Stephen had quoted what Jesus had said 21:25 about "Destroy this temple and I'll 21:27 raise it up again in three days." 21:28 But what does the Scripture say? 21:30 Jesus wasn't referring to the temple of stones, 21:34 He was referring to His body. 21:37 And he did give a parable... remember in the wedding feast. 21:39 He gave the parable, a prophecy about the destruction 21:42 of the temple, but He was promising He wouldn't 21:45 destroy it, it was that God was going to send in the 21:48 Roman armies to destroy it. 21:50 Now if you want to look that up, that's Matthew 22:7 21:55 Acts 6:15... This is the part I really want to get to. 21:59 All who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him, 22:05 saw that his face shown as the face of an angel." 22:11 So they're looking intently, they're making eye contact. 22:15 These are the high priests and the council members, 22:18 and what do they see? 22:19 He is quiet, he is composed, he has confidence and courage, 22:24 he is not filled with fear and anger, but more than that... 22:29 the face of an angel probably startled the council. 22:35 This was the same thing that happened when Moses 22:38 came down off the mountain and his face was shining. 22:43 The face of an angel - Stephen's face was illuminated 22:49 with the glory of God. 22:51 And you know, it's interesting because we're going to see 22:54 Stephen's ministry was a link between the establishment 22:58 of the church in Jerusalem and the 23:00 conversion of the apostle Paul, who at that time 23:04 was Saul of Tarsus... 23:05 He was probably sitting in this council or was sitting 23:08 in this council before whom Stephen was drug and 23:12 he's most likely the one who reported all this to Luke, 23:15 and then Luke, as the historian, wrote it down. 23:18 The extraordinary phenomenon of Stephen having the face of 23:24 an angel never left Paul's mind. 23:27 He never forgot it because his face was aglow with the 23:31 love of Jesus Christ toward his persecutors, 23:36 just like Christ was. 23:37 Stephen's speech that follows, we're going 23:40 to get into that now... proves that he was not 23:42 guilty of blasphemy, but he was declaring that God 23:46 is bigger than the temple and that all the articles 23:51 in the temple pointed to Jesus. 23:53 But as with Jesus, Stephen is getting the Jesus treatment, 23:57 is he not? Um hm. 23:58 And as with Jesus, the council hearing precedes a violent end 24:06 before the ultimate victory. 24:08 Well done, well done. Amen. 24:11 I think oft times and we are moving to Tuesday now, 24:16 what goes on in your head determines what your eyes see. 24:23 Amen! Amen! Boy, that's true. 24:26 Since many of these Jewish leaders were not ready to 24:30 accept Christ, the default setting on blindness 24:35 was accusing anyone who lifts up Christ of blasphemy. 24:39 There's no way to get away from that. 24:41 We're talking about the nascent church in the first 24:47 several decades of it's existence. 24:51 The City of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed 24:54 in 70 AD, and so we are well into the time when 24:58 the temple is still there and the city is still intact. 25:01 And I think that this touches on what you said, Shelley, 25:03 that the fact that they were so slow to recognize 25:07 because they had the building still there. Yes. 25:09 The building was there and so in their mindset, 25:12 really as long as we've got this building, 25:15 everything is okay... you know, the building is there. 25:18 And I think one of the reasons the Lord allowed 25:21 Jerusalem to be destroyed... was to take away this 25:25 symbol which was really impeding the progress of 25:29 the early church... PLUS, the disciples and I use this 25:32 just sort of common terminology, we're spending a 25:34 little too much time hanging around Jerusalem 25:37 when they should have been moving out 25:40 doing the work of the Lord. 25:42 Now Paul realized he was an apostle to the Gentiles, 25:45 but there was still a lot of focus on Jerusalem, 25:49 and what was happening in Jerusalem and it was time now 25:53 for the church to begin to move out into the wider world. 25:58 That's one of the reasons why you're getting some of this 26:00 friction between the Hellenistic Jews and the indigenous 26:05 because other people are beginning to come in, 26:07 and their practice of religion is not precisely the same 26:12 as it is in Jerusalem, but those needs 26:15 need to be accommodated also. 26:17 So it's not friction as much as it is the growth pains of 26:21 any new organization that needs to get itself established. 26:24 So that's what we are looking at. 26:28 Stephen was accused, arrested and called 26:32 before the Sanhedrin and as well been said for blasphemy. 26:38 The notion, the idea that the Mosaic ceremonies and the 26:44 law and the efficacy of what is being done in the temple 26:48 could be nullified - was heresy of the highest order 26:53 to the Jewish leaders, that's anathema 26:56 that just COULD NOT BE! 26:59 Again, because we got this building, we got this 27:01 building - this building is here, so all must be right. 27:04 The idea that you have to do works of goodness 27:08 is deeply routed in Judaism. 27:10 I've got a lot of good Jewish friends even in New York 27:13 to this day... my eye doctor, my general practitioner 27:17 was Jewish, my eye surgeon was Jewish, you know, 27:21 Dr. Michael Lieberman, my good friend - his father was a 27:25 rabbi - he was a leader in New York and we 27:29 did have some great discussions while he was dilating my eyes, 27:33 you know, but I can't see, so we just talked! 27:36 Back in the late 70s and 80s, there was a rabbi 27:39 a Grand Rebbe called Menachem Schneerson 27:43 in New York, who some thought actually was the Messiah. 27:46 But, he would get on the radio and tell the Jewish community, 27:53 "You need to attend the synagogue, you need to study 27:56 the law and you need to DO WORKS of righteousness." 27:58 So that's ingrained in Judaism. 28:02 So the idea that we just have to rely on a carpenter? 28:07 You know, who we all knew, we knew his family. 28:11 They didn't come from any great lineage, He got into the 28:14 line of carpenters, and we're used to kind of 28:17 working our stuff out by ourselves. 28:20 As far as mindset is concerned, it was totally alien 28:23 to what they're doing. 28:25 And then to be accused of displeasing God 28:29 because we got rid of this carpenter... 28:32 you know, it just makes no sense to us. 28:34 And so Stephen now, full of the Holy Spirit... 28:37 and this is what is so exciting... 28:38 these, can I say "these guys" were full 28:42 of the power of the Lord. Amen! 28:43 We see it again in Stephen, they are not to be denied, 28:47 you know, you put them in prison, 28:49 you get them out of prison, where are they? 28:50 Right back in the temple preaching again, you know. 28:52 Didn't we tell you not to preach in this name? 28:55 "Well it's better to obey God rather than man." Acts 5:29 28:59 So we have Stephen now, full of the Spirit 29:02 as you well said, Shelley, and we're at the end... 29:05 I need to just tuck this in here. 29:07 We're at the end of the 490-year prophecy. 29:10 We're beyond the 7 weeks and the 60 and 2 weeks, 29:13 we're in that last week. 29:15 In the midst of the week, of course, the Messiah was cut off, 29:18 not for Himself, according to Daniel 9:27. 29:22 And now we're at the end of the week, 29:25 and Israel is just about to close its fate as far as 29:31 that 490 years is concerned. 29:36 So now Stephen comes along and he gives this lengthy response 29:44 which takes up most of chapter 7, 29:47 and we come to this word that I haven't heard since 29:50 the seminary and that's "covenant lawsuit." 29:52 I remember Dr. Daniel Allsburg telling us about the 29:55 "covenant lawsuit." 29:56 It's a wonderful device that was employed by 30:00 Old Testament prophets when they were... 30:02 ... Can I say this Mollie? "Taking the people out to the 30:04 woodshed." Laughter 30:06 That's not a New York kind of a thing, but when it was 30:09 time to get down to business and tell the people their 30:12 sins, they used this methodology, 30:14 this "covenant lawsuit." 30:16 What they did was... they established the mighty 30:19 acts of God, they went back and rehearsed - this is what God 30:21 has done for you and the Lord did this too... 30:23 "I'm the Lord God, before He gave 30:24 the Ten Commandments who brought thee out of 30:26 the House of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 30:27 You know, I've done all this for you, now it's your turn 30:30 to respond appropriately to what I've done for you. 30:35 So the second part of the covenant lawsuit is the 30:39 idea that given what God has done, this is your 30:43 reasonable service, if I can say that... Yes 30:46 This is your logical response to the goodness of the Lord. 30:51 Then that is followed by what you should have done 30:55 but did not do and then comes the sanctions. 31:02 Now comes the spanking, you know. 31:04 And so Stephen had to go through all of that. 31:07 His arguments were irrefutable and when you have 31:13 logic buttressed by the power of the Spirit of God, 31:17 you can't gainsay that, there's nothing you can do 31:21 but say, "halleluiah, amen." 31:23 You know, but they weren't the mindset for halleluiah, amen. 31:26 They didn't want to hear halleluiah, amen, 31:28 and they didn't want to be accused of taking the life 31:30 of this carpenter who they didn't accept as 31:33 the new way, truth and the life anyway. 31:35 So now, Stephen has got to be dealt with and I'm 31:42 kind of leaving "rib" for you a little bit Jill. 31:44 Oh no, take it, you're getting it. 31:46 laughter... because "Rib" is a word 31:50 for covenant lawsuit, it's "rib," but the "i" 31:53 has a little hat on the top of it - that changes 31:55 the "i" to an "e," so it's pronounced "reb," 31:58 but it is a methodology used over and over again 32:02 by the prophets in the Old Testament, 32:04 and it's interesting that Stephen choose to use this 32:07 methodology - it's long, it takes a lot of time, 32:10 but it's necessary when you're in court to let the people know, 32:13 this is what God has done for you. 32:14 And you know, Ellen White says this to preachers... 32:18 She says, "Every now and again, Shelley, you gotta take them 32:20 and hold them over the flames," talking about 32:22 the members - you don't do it every Sabbath. 32:24 You know, it's not some kind of rite, 32:25 sometimes you gotta kind of hold them over the flames, 32:27 and let them feel the heat and that's what Stephen was doing. 32:30 He was kind of holding them over the flames and letting them 32:33 feel the heat, so they have to understand that 32:37 God has done this for you, this should have been 32:39 your response - you didn't give that response, 32:41 and now some things are going to have to happen 32:44 because God has got to make some course corrections. 32:48 And they were not ready to hear that; 32:51 they were not ready to accept that; 32:53 they did not want that for their lives, 32:55 and, of course, so now decisions are being made. 32:58 Isn't it interesting, whenever the devil comes in, 33:00 he's a liar and a murderer... 33:02 When Christ raises Lazarus from the dead, 33:07 you cannot gainsay because he was dead, 33:10 and now he's up walking around, so now we gotta kill Christ. 33:12 You know, that's the mindset, so now we're being accused 33:17 of destroying Christ - we've got to silence this guy. 33:21 You know, that's demonic, that's coming from the enemy. 33:24 This is the idea that if I can't 33:26 control you, I gotta just kill you. 33:27 So we know that they are motivated by a demonic spirit 33:31 that was not of the Lord, and yet, we know that 33:34 God was with Stephen in an unusually powerful way, 33:38 right up until the time that he passed, he was steadfast 33:43 for the Lord and in that, he is an example to 33:47 all of us - that we need to be steadfast for the Lord! 33:52 AMEN! Amen! Thank you so much Pastor CA. 33:56 I just love to sit under the teaching of each one 33:58 of the people here, but especially Pastor CA. 34:01 I always think, "I want to go to school and have him be 34:03 my professor," what a blessing! What a clear explanation 34:08 of Stephen's - we sometimes call it "Stephen's defense," 34:12 but really it was a prosecution. He was on the offense. 34:14 He was on the offence against the Jewish leadership 34:18 because as each one of you mentioned, 34:20 he was called here before the "great council" they call it, 34:23 which would be the great Sanhedrin there at Jerusalem. 34:27 Those 71 members - this would be the leadership... 34:31 I know Mollie, in a previous lesson, you talked about 34:34 it being like the Supreme Court. 34:36 So Stephen is there, you would think 34:39 defending the Christian faith, but really he is on the offense, 34:43 and he's giving that rib, that covenant lawsuit... 34:48 what the people have done, what God has done, 34:50 and what the people have not done in response to that. 34:54 There's an abrupt shift and then my passage begins 34:57 in Acts 7:52, but there's an abrupt shift. 35:00 I just want to point this out in how Stephen is presenting 35:03 the whole ways through - he says, "Our Father," 35:06 and he identifies himself with with the Israelites, 35:10 with the Israel people and the whole way through 35:13 he says that and then there's an abrupt shift that 35:16 takes place at verse 51 then Mollie. 35:20 I want to read one quote here from "Acts of the Apostles," 35:23 p. 100, it says, "When Stephen reached this point... 35:27 this is just before verse 51... "There was a tumult 35:32 among the people. When he connected Christ 35:34 with the prophecies and spoke as he did at the temple, 35:37 the priest pretending to be horror-stricken, rent his robe. 35:41 To Stephen, this act was a signal that his voice 35:44 would soon be silenced forever. 35:46 He saw the resistance that met his words and knew that 35:49 he was giving his last testimony. 35:53 Although in the midst of the sermon, he abruptly 35:55 concluded it... And you see that as you 35:57 see as he goes through, he really takes his time 36:00 and sets this whole thing up and then ABRUPTLY 36:02 in verse 51, he shifts from "Our Father" to YOU 36:07 stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! 36:10 You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers do, 36:13 so do you. 36:14 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? 36:17 And then kill those who foretold the coming of 36:20 the Just One... that's the Messiah, Jesus Christ. 36:23 ... of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers." 36:26 So at this point, the group is incensed and we see that 36:31 in verse 54... When they heard these things... 36:34 now this is the supreme court, these would be like 36:37 we would think - the judges, the rulers of the land. 36:40 And yet, they were cut to the heart and they 36:44 gnashed at him with their teeth. 36:46 Now "cut to the heart" in the Greek literally means... 36:50 "To saw straight through, to saw asunder." 36:54 It's used only twice in the New Testament, 36:57 and the other time, it's used in Acts 5:29 when 37:00 Peter is on trial and he says, "Remember you ought to 37:03 obey God rather than men," and it says... 37:05 "There they were furious." 37:07 So whether they're furious or cut to the heart, 37:09 either way the same effect, takes life. 37:13 One staggering blow did not do the work, 37:16 the truth laden with rebuke, the entire sermon 37:20 that Stephen gave was gradually making its 37:24 way into their hearts. 37:25 The personal application when he turned and said, 37:28 "YOU," that completed the work. 37:30 So they gnashed at him with their teeth, in other words, 37:33 they were extremely mad. 37:35 Now sometimes we get mad when someone cuts us off in traffic, 37:38 that's a minor irritation or when someone maybe says 37:42 something against you, Shelley, that's a minor issue, 37:44 maybe a moral issue or when you see someone being hurt, 37:48 maybe more indignation rises up within us. 37:52 If we talk about race or politics - you can get a little 37:56 more upset, but in this case, the fury, the gnashing 38:00 of the teeth, the shower of stones that is to come upon 38:04 Stephen - are only met with... when that which is to be put 38:08 down is the pure truth of God. 38:10 The carnal mind is enmity against God and that's 38:14 what we see taking place here. 38:16 So let's look at his response. 38:20 They're mad and they're gnashing their teeth, 38:22 and then verse 55... "He, Stephen, being full of 38:25 the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven... several, each one 38:29 of you mentioned about him being full of the Holy Spirit, 38:32 the word in Greek for full is "pleres" meaning completely 38:35 occupied with, completely filled up with. 38:39 Shelley, you talk about his face shining 38:41 as the face of an angel. 38:43 He was completely full of the Holy Spirit. 38:46 "He gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, 38:49 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 38:52 And he said, "Look I see the heavens opened and the 38:56 Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 38:59 Now this is pivotal to me in two points... 39:02 #1... To me it's beautiful the encouragement that the 39:06 Lord Jesus gave to him right at that moment. 39:08 He looked up and he saw Jesus. 39:11 We all don't see the heavenly vision, but we all 39:15 can see that by faith. 39:17 It reminds me of the vision in Isaiah 6, 39:19 when Isaiah was called and he saw the vision of the temple. 39:23 We know John the Revelator saw the vision of the temple, and in 39:25 Revelation 4 and 5, he was given that vision into the temple. 39:30 So in a sense, just before Stephen's death, 39:32 he was given this vision into the temple, 39:34 and that's an encouragement, but at the same time, 39:38 by Stephen saying, "Jesus is not seated at the right hand 39:42 of the Father, what did he say? 39:44 He said, "standing up." 39:46 I believe that the Israelites, the children of Israel, 39:50 that they were students of the Old Testament, 39:52 students of the prophecies and they knew what that meant, 39:56 that the judgment of God was about ready to take place. 40:01 God Himself would judge the false teachers 40:04 and leaders in Israel. 40:05 You notice the call to repentance is missing 40:08 from Stephen's sermon, as it were. 40:11 Peter did it in Acts 2:38, he said, "Repent and let every 40:15 one of you be baptized." 40:18 Acts 3:19, Peter is talking again, "Repent therefore 40:21 and be converted, that your sins be blotted out." 40:24 Acts 5:31, Peter and the disciples again. 40:27 "Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince 40:30 and Savior to give repentance to Israel 40:32 and forgiveness of sins." 40:34 But that repentance, as it were, is missing here because 40:37 the people of Israel, the nation as a whole has, 40:43 as it were, filled up their cup. 40:45 It reminds me of Daniel 12:1, when Michael stands up 40:48 at the end, what's happening? 40:50 The judgment of the world is taking place. 40:52 Psalm 68, we won't read it now, but Psalm 68 talks 40:56 about "Arise Lord, in judgment." 40:59 This does not mean - I want to be clear on this... 41:01 This does not mean that people who are Jews, 41:05 people belonging to that religion, cannot be saved. 41:07 Of course it does not mean that. 41:09 We're talking about the nation, the system as a whole. 41:12 We know, AD 34... you talked about this Pastor CA, 41:15 the end of the 490 weeks and when that took place. 41:19 The Jewish leadership, immediately they got upset, 41:21 and "they cried out with a loud voice - I'm in verse 57, 41:24 they stopped their ears and they ran at him with one accord." 41:28 They did not want to hear anymore and they ran at him. 41:30 "And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. 41:33 And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of 41:35 a young man named Saul." 41:37 And we will see a great deal more of Saul, turned Paul, 41:40 in the Book of Acts. 41:41 The Jewish leadership participated in stoning him. 41:45 And then what is Stephen's response? 41:47 "And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God 41:52 and saying, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." 41:56 Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, 41:59 "Lord, do not charge them with this sin," 42:04 and when he said this, he fell asleep." 42:07 Stephen's forgiveness just blows my mind away. 42:10 At the very moment when the people who were mad at him, 42:14 the people he was trying to bring Jesus to, 42:17 they were stoning him and he is saying, "Lord, 42:20 Jesus, do not lay this sin to their charge." 42:23 I have six take-aways very quick in my remaining time... 42:27 #1... Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not always 42:30 change your outcome, but it always changes 42:33 the outcome of those around you. 42:36 Saul was converted as a result partially of Stephen's 42:40 testimony here and what he witnessed in Stephen's life. 42:44 Stephen still died, but the gospel was spread to the 42:47 entire world in the persecution that arose after this. 42:50 #2... Exercise faith even when you can't see. 42:54 Stephen was given the privilege to actually see the 42:56 the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus. 42:58 We all don't see that heavenly vision, but we can 43:01 see it by faith. Hebrews 11:27, Moses endured seeing Him 43:06 who is invisible." 43:07 #3... Jealousy, anger, unforgiveness blind you 43:12 from seeing or hearing truth. Amen 43:15 The Jewish leaders stuck their hands in their ears and they 43:18 would not even listen because of their jealousy 43:21 and anger, and unforgiveness. 43:23 #4... Self-deception is very real. 43:27 I can walk forward believing it's the right way, picking up a 43:30 stone as they were doing while hurting someone else 43:34 and being directly in contrary to the word of God. 43:37 So plead and ask God, search me, oh God 43:39 and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. 43:42 #5... Choose to extend forgiveness to other people 43:46 whether it's asked for or not. 43:48 #6... And finally, trust God with the outcome 43:52 no matter what happens. That's right. Amen! 43:56 This is so encouraging to see this appointment of 44:01 the seven and Stephen, look how powerful he was, 44:05 a deacon in the church, even, you know, Stephen was 44:08 the first one and I think somebody mentioned 44:10 that the first one in the Bible to be martyred was Stephen, 44:14 and he was a deacon - he wasn't even one of the 44:17 big leaders in the church, that was Stephen. 44:20 Well what was the original commission, Acts 1:8, 44:24 what was the commission that these were given, 44:28 that the early church was given? 44:29 "But you shall receive power, after that the Holy 44:33 Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me." 44:37 You know the reason you receive the indwelling 44:39 of the Holy Spirit is to be a witness! Amen 44:41 And Jesus didn't want them... you know, the great 44:45 commission is to "go ye therefore into all the world," 44:49 He didn't want them just to say in Jerusalem, 44:51 "Be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea 44:54 and Samaria and to the end of the earth." 44:56 Well now, another one of these seven that were appointed 45:03 was named Phillip and we're going to find some amazing 45:07 things - the power of the Holy Spirit 45:10 that is working in Phillip. 45:11 Now, we've talked about the martyrdom of Stephen 45:15 and how standing there... you read it... 45:18 holding the coats of those that were doing the stoning, 45:21 was a gentleman named... did I use that word 45:25 loosely I think at this point, and probably the leader 45:30 of the persecution was Saul. 45:33 Let me read this to you about Saul in Acts 8:3... 45:37 you want to turn to Acts 8, we're going to be in there 45:40 for a few minutes. "As for Saul, he made what? 45:45 ...havoc of the church, entering every house, 45:48 and dragging off men and women committing them to prison." 45:51 But after his conversion... here is something that Paul 45:55 admits - now this is Acts 26:9-10... 45:59 So I'll read that to you, Acts 26:9-10... 46:03 "Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary 46:07 to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 46:10 This I also did in Jerusalem and many of the saints 46:14 I shut up in prison, having received authority from the 46:17 chief priests; and when they were put to death, 46:20 I cast my vote against them. 46:22 So we see Paul leading this thrust of persecution, 46:28 and after the persecution and the stoning of the martyrdom 46:34 of Stephen, the persecution of the Christians 46:39 in Jerusalem really got hot. 46:41 I mean, this seemed to be an impetus that just ignited 46:45 a fire to persecute the Christians and this is what 46:48 happened to a lot of the believers - it got so hot 46:51 that they left town - it was too hot for them. 46:55 Well, you know, there is good to that because what was it doing? 47:01 I think this is in another lesson, but we talk of 47:03 the great dispersion, "diaspora" I think we call it. 47:07 That's at another time and another place, 47:10 but there are some elements of it here because 47:12 persecution caused them to go out into other areas, 47:17 and where were they supposed to go? Jerusalem, 47:21 Judea, Samaria - the uttermost parts of the world. 47:25 So Acts 8:1... "At that time a great persecution arose 47:32 against the church which was at Jerusalem, 47:34 and they were all scattered throughout the region of 47:38 Judea and Samaria... except the apostles, now the apostles 47:41 stayed in Jerusalem to take care of this early church, 47:44 this baby church in its infancy. 47:47 Acts, let's look at verses 4-8... "Therefore those who were 47:51 scattered went everywhere doing what? Preaching. 47:56 So these that were scattered that the persecution 47:59 in Jerusalem got so bad that they left Jerusalem, 48:03 but they didn't go just with their tail tucked between 48:06 their legs, they went preaching the word everywhere. 48:10 Then Phillip went down to the city of Samaria 48:14 and preached Christ to them. 48:15 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things 48:20 of Phillip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." 48:24 So Phillip was full of the Holy Spirit and he was powerful 48:27 as well and it says that the multitudes heeded for unclean 48:33 spirits crying with a loud voice, came out of many 48:36 who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed 48:39 and lame were healed. 48:40 And there was great joy in that city." 48:43 Now this is in Samaria, the Samaritans were 48:48 half Israelites - they were monotheists - that means 48:52 they believed in what? One God. 48:55 Even from the religious standpoint, 48:58 they accepted the first five books of Moses, 49:01 which is the Pentateuch, they practiced circumcision 49:05 and expected the Messiah, they were looking for Jesus. 49:09 This city of Samaria, to the Jews; however, Samaritan 49:14 religion was corrupted which means the Samaritans 49:19 had no share whatsoever in the covenant mercies of Israel. 49:24 The conversion of the Samaritans because 49:27 news with Phillip in Samaria... 49:30 You know that got back to Jerusalem... 49:32 So the conversion of the Samaritans astounded 49:36 the church in Jerusalem. Why? 49:38 Because they thought it was a corrupt religion. 49:42 They had no faith, no confidence in the Samaritans, 49:45 but there's a great move of God in Samaria, 49:49 a great conversion, so the apostles made a 49:55 decision... "We're going to send out the big guns 49:57 down to Samaria." 49:59 They sent out Peter and John to Samaria and the reason 50:02 they went there was to check it out, to assess the situation. 50:05 So here's what they found and that's Acts 8:14-17, 50:10 let's read that... "Now when, Peter and John, 50:14 the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that 50:16 Samaria had received the word of God, 50:18 they sent Peter and John to them. 50:20 Verse 15, who when they had come down praying for them 50:24 that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 50:26 For as yet He had not fallen upon them. 50:30 They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 50:34 Then they laid hands on them and something happened... 50:38 The same experience that the 120 had, Brother Kenny, 50:44 in the upper room, that same experience was 50:48 loosed where? Right in Samaria. 50:52 And they received the Holy Spirit." 50:54 Now here is what the thought is concerning that... 50:58 God waited to send the Holy Spirit until Peter and John 51:02 got to Samaria so that that was done to convince 51:08 the apostles that the Samaritans were to be 51:12 accepted as full members of the community of faith. 51:17 Amen. Absolutely right. 51:18 You know what that's concluding? 51:20 Now these were half Israelites this said, 51:24 it's bringing in the Gentiles. 51:27 All right, all of you Gentiles, aren't we so glad, 51:31 oh that God included us too. Okay. 51:34 And see, it didn't stop in Samaria. 51:37 One more in this, let me just tell you this story... 51:40 Phillip was just minding his own business... 51:44 can I just tell it like this... Oh yes! Thanks. 51:47 The Spirit of the Lord overshadowed him and told him, 51:50 "I want you to go down from Jerusalem to Gaza, 51:57 that's in the desert because I want you to meet a man there." 52:02 This man is a very powerful, influential man. 52:07 He is head of the whole treasury 52:09 in Ethiopia for Candace the queen. 52:13 Now he is a eunuch with great authority, 52:17 and you know Phillip did exactly what the Holy Spirit 52:20 told him to do - and what did he find when he 52:23 came up to the chariot... he overheard the eunuch, 52:28 the Ethiopian reading out of what book? Isaiah 52:31 Out of Isaiah and then Phillip went up to him 52:36 and he heard his reading, he said, "Do you understand 52:39 what you're reading? 52:40 And the Ethiopian said, "How can I unless 52:44 someone guides me." 52:45 Now what do you think Phillip wanted to do in the first place? 52:48 So he started expounding on, it was the message 52:52 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 52:54 It says, so Phillip preached Jesus and the eunuch 52:57 accepted the truth and asked if he could be baptized. 53:01 Well, they were right by a body of water and so 53:04 Phillip said, "If you believe in your heart, you may." 53:08 And the Ethiopian said, "I believe that Jesus Christ 53:11 is the Son of God." 53:12 Salvation is... Oh, I'm just gonna stop here and tell you. 53:16 Salvation was never made hard. 53:19 Salvation - if you believe in your heart and confess it 53:22 with your mouth, you will be saved. Amen! 53:24 You can ask the Lord, "What must I do to be saved?" 53:28 And I'd have to say to you, "You're too late, 53:31 he's already done it all, you just accept Him." Amen! 53:35 Just like this Ethiopian, well, the gospel was spreading. 53:39 First it went to Samaria and the Samaritans were 53:43 having an incredible revival. 53:45 Then it went to the Ethiopian, you know what 53:47 he did? He took the gospel all 53:50 the way back to Ethiopia and started 53:52 spreading the gospel. 53:53 This small group of believers, let me just give you 53:56 something that the Scripture tells us... 53:59 This small group of believers did something... 54:01 They turned the world upside-down for 54:04 the Lord Jesus Christ and you and I are a product of it. 54:08 Amen! Amen. Praise the Lord, I'm getting excited, right? 54:11 That's what studying the Book of Acts does for you. 54:15 I jotted down like 5 things I thought was interesting 54:17 on the lesson - everybody brought out such 54:19 wonderful points, you know, maybe you haven't 54:22 quite thought of and it brought it all together. 54:24 #1... I jotted down that as the church began, success attended 54:30 their efforts - the Holy Spirit was being poured out. 54:32 #2... That they had the tendencies to stay where the 54:36 work was going on good, you know, it's one thing 54:39 when the work is going good and they say, 54:40 "Well I'll go somewhere else and start doing it." 54:42 We want to kind of stay in the same spot because 54:44 it was going very good. 54:45 Then they forgot their commission 54:49 was to go into all the world. 54:50 #4... Because of the problem in Jerusalem, 54:54 they had to spend a lot of time shielding 54:57 these problems, trying to take care of these problems, 54:59 and they forgot, again, the commission - what they were 55:02 supposed to do, rather than educating other 55:04 people to get the message out to the world, 55:07 they had become satisfied with what had been accomplished. 55:11 I think that can happen, even nowadays. 55:14 Good things happen, maybe in the church, 55:16 and sometimes we become satisfied with these things... 55:19 and we don't want to go any farther than that. 55:21 5... What happened? God allowed persecution that we've been 55:26 talking about here to come into the church and then they 55:30 were scattered and then they went about what God 55:33 had told them to do to begin with. 55:35 Not huddled all together, but go into all the world 55:38 and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 55:40 So you can really see a story here really unfolding, 55:43 and, you know what, the lessons just get better and better, 55:45 and better, so you don't want to miss any of them. 55:47 Good closing thought... we have almost 2 minutes. 55:51 Just a quick thing is that what you mentioned about 55:54 the position of deacons... when they appointed 55:57 deacons in the early church, there were no elders, 55:59 so really, they kind of filled the role of both deacon 56:04 and elder, but the most important thing is that 56:07 they chose men who were full of the Holy Spirit. 56:11 This is why Stephen could be like Christ in what 56:15 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, 56:17 they don't know what they do." 56:18 He was saying... "Don't lay this at their charge." Amazing! 56:23 The call was to leave Jerusalem and spread the gospel. 56:28 That is the pattern for today. 56:29 In Battle Creek, Ellen White said, "Don't pile up in 56:32 Battle Creek, let's go." 56:33 Sometimes we tend to pile up in our churches. 56:36 The call is the same..."Come out and go and spread the gospel." 56:40 That call is to everyone. 56:41 2 Corinthians 13 says... "We do nothing against 56:44 the truth, but for the truth." 56:45 And you know, I think what took place with the life of 56:49 Stephen, it was actually for the spreading of the gospel. 56:51 Amen! So I think we all ought to ask 56:54 the Lord... "Just set me on fire, Lord and I will be 56:57 Your witness here in this earth." Amen! 56:59 Beautiful thoughts! Beautiful thoughts! 57:02 And as we come to the closing, we're just very grateful 57:04 and thankful again that you chose to be with us today, 57:07 and we pray that this has been a real blessing. 57:09 And I think it would be nice and appropriate, 57:11 we have 20 seconds left, just to have a little prayer. 57:13 Brother CA, would you just close it out with prayer please. 57:15 Gracious Father, We see and understand 57:18 the power that came in response to Acts 1:8, 57:22 and that power is still in the church today Father. 57:24 Help us to use that power to avail ourselves of that 57:27 power to live lives that are dedicated to Christ, 57:30 to let the light of Christ's love shine out in our hearts 57:33 that men and women may come and ask... 57:35 What must I do to be saved? 57:38 We thank you, Father, for your power and the presence 57:40 of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name... Amen |
Revised 2024-07-22